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A group of naval volunteers rioted at Chester, when one of their shipmates was press-ganged and thrown into the gaol. Many doors and windows were destroyed. It took four companies of troops from the Shropshire militia to calm the situation.

“A press-gang stationed at Chester having on the 28th ult. pressed one of the volunteers, who had been at sea, and lodged him in gaol, a great number of the members of the corps to which he belonged proceeded, after their parade, to the prison, and demanded the man. On receiving a refusal they threatened to proceed to violence, when Major Wilmot, their commander, came up, and declared that he would put the first man to death that attempted to force the gaol; upon which he was seized by the volunteers, some of whom called out to have his sword broken over his head. By the assistance of some friends, he was, however, rescued from them unhurt. They then turned their fury against the gaol; the windows and doors of which they forced in; upon which the gaoler, in order to secure the rest of the prisoners, gave him up: they then chaired him through the city. The naval rendezvous was the next object of attack, the windows and doors of which they destroyed. At their approach the press-gang retired; but, leaving their colours, the volunteers tore them from the staff, and dragged them in the kennel. Lieut. Col. Cuyler, inspecting Field Officer of volunteers in the district called upon the Magistrates to use their authority, who sent a note to Lieut. Burchell, requesting him to take his gang away till troops should arrive. – Four companies of the Shropshire Supplementary Militia, having arrived from Liverpool, at the end of some days, peace was restored.”

The Stamford Mercury, 20th January, 1804.

Curiosities discovered by workmen digging in Leadenhall Street, included this item (see below), the centre of a Roman tessellated mosaic which is now in the British Museum collection.

“Some curiosities found last week in digging opposite the East-India House in Leadenhall-street, prove to be exceedingly valuable. About ten feet below the surface of the street, the workmen finding something hard, it was immediately inspected by the respectable antiquarian Mr. Wilkins, by whose direction and assiduity a perfect urn was soon brought out. It contained a quantity of bones, among which a finger and jaw-bone were plainly discernible. A beautiful Roman tesselated pavement was also discovered, and by the nice attention of the same gentleman, one piece of about four feet by two was raised uninjured. The entire pavement seems to have been a square of nine-feet, in the centre of which is an elegantly adorned circle of four feet, containing a Bacchus holding a wand, and riding on a tiger; the figure is in purple robe, and the attitude of the beast is very grand: his head looking at the figure on his back, one of his fore feet raised, stepping well forward, and the tail extended. – Under the able directions of the librarian, there is no doubt of the whole being rendered well worthy the attention of the antiquarian.”

The Stamford Mercury, 13th January, 1804.

‘Central roundel from mosaic pavement; depicts Bacchus, riding on a tiger, referring to the myth that the god visited India; with geometric border.’

© The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Luckily, no one was killed in this great fire caused by a spark from a candle, which happened to be near a gas leak.

“At about three o’clock on Sunday morning, great alarm and confusion prevailed amongst the inhabitants of Fleet-street, occasioned by one of the most destructive fires that have occurred for some years back. The watchmen of St. Bride’s passage, whose station is on the south side of the street near Bride’s parish, observed some smoke issuing from the premises of Mr. Bond, the linen-draper, No. 87. Some other watchmen came up, and set about alarming the inmates of that and the adjoining houses, whilst others hastened for the engines. On the door being forced open, a vast body of flames burst through the shutters,, and ascended with terrific fury. It was full 25 minutes before any turncock was to be found. During this delay, the devouring element gained such an alarming ascendency, that all attempts to rescue any of the stock in trade were found to be in vain. The house of Mr. Bond, in less than 20 minutes from the first alarm, presented one mass of fire, which, bursting through the roof, (the wind at the time blowing a heavy gale from the S.W.) spread in one huge sheet; and the houses of Mr. Hill, chymist, and Mr. Mattress, hairdresser, were included in the destructive scene; the flames spread over to the house of the notorious Carlile, at the corner of Bride-passage, the attics of which and the floor underneath were discovered to have caught fire. Either fire-engines by this time arrived; but notwithstanding the efforts of the firemen, the adjoining house to the left, Messrs. Pitman and Ashfield’s , oilmen, at about a quarter before four o’clock, was numbered in the conflagration, as was also Mr. Marriott’s, the furnishing ironmonger. The spectacle was snow awfully grand, the flames illuminating the horizon for a considerable extent, and spreading their devastation with incredible velocity. At half past four, Mr. Marriott’s extensive premises were entirely entirely in flames, which communicated to the houses of Mr. Smith, tailor, and Mr. Mercier, printer, which in a few seconds were on fire from top to bottom. It was now thought expedient by the firemen to turn their attention to the adjoining houses, and torrents of water were thrown upon them to check the farther extension of the fire. Fortunately a strong party-wall of the house of Mr. Phené, confectioner, saved his extensive premises; and the court on the other side had a similar effect, as regards Messrs. Davenport and Co’s china warehouse. A curious circumstance in the course of the confusion took place: some of Carlile’s family took refuge in St Bride’s church, and placed also there for security a quantity of his deistical publication – The Age of Reason was one of them. At five o’clock the entire fronts of the houses of Mr. Bond and Mr. Hill fell suddenly with a tremendous crack. At nine o’clock the fire was subdued. No lives were lost. The fire was said to have been occasioned by the incautious dropping of a spark from a candle in the closing of Mr. Bond’s shop, behind the counter, which (communicating with the gas, which it is thought was no properly turned off,) produced a destruction of property to the amount of nearly 100,000l.”

The Stamford Mercury, 19th November, 1824.

A butcher took a bad tumble down a lead-shaft (twice!) and was there for two days before being rescued from his situation. He eventually recovered from his injuries, but we want to know what happened to his horse?!

“On Wednesday the 26th ult. as Mr. Hutton, contractor for supplying Dartmoor prison with butcher’s meat, was returning from Tavistock market, in the evening having dismounted to refresh his horse at a rivulet, it being dark, the animal escaped from him, and in endeavouring to recover it, Mr. H. missed his way and was precipitated into an old lead-shaft, upwards of 68 feet deep; but there being several feet of water in the bottom, it in some measure broke his fall. On rising to the surface, Mr. H. laid hold of one of the cross-pieces on which he supported himself; and he plainly heard the passengers conversing on the turnpike-road, but his efforts to make known his situation proving ineffectual, he endeavoured, by means of a pair of scissors, to dig holes in the side of the pit, to facilitate his ascension, and had got within a few feet of the surface, but the earth giving way, he was again plunged into the dark abyss. He remained in this dreadful situation until the Friday following, when he was discovered by a labourer, who was passing by; ropes wre immediately procured, by which he was soon released from his perilous situation and we are happy to state he is now perfectly recovered. In his endeavours to extricate himself he lacerated his toes and fingers in a shocking manner. – The danger to which travellers are often exposed from the old pits being left without any kind of fence, ought to be a matter of strict investigation.”

The Stamford Mercury, 4th January, 1811.

Accident to a Brig, and narrow escape of the Master, at Sutton Bridge.

A horrendous accident under a bridge near Wisbech caused chaos, but luckily no loss of life.

“On the subject of this accident (mentioned in our last) a correspondent has communicated the following fuller particulars: – ‘As the brig Robert James, Haynes, the property of Mr. Rd. Young, an extensive merchant and shipowner at this port, was proceeding down the river on Sunday the 12th inst. with a gentle breeze, on entering the archway of the bridge a sudden gust brought her rigging in contact with one of the leaves of the bridge, which carried away her main top-mast, and the ponderous mass (the leaf), weighing about 25 tons, fell with a tremendous crash upon the stern of the vessel, breaking through the massive timbers as if cut with a saw. The master and the pilot, who stood at the wheel, perceiving the mass descending on them, sprang forward, and saved themselves from instant destruction. Had a sacrifice of human life been added to the loss of property by this unfortunate collision, it would have been for a jury to assess the amount of damages in the shape of deodand* upon the bridge company, which would no doubt have been the subject of complaint ever since its first opening, has now become an intolerable nuisance to the trade of Wisbech, which year after year call more loudly for its abatement. When it was erected, nothing larger than vessels of 50 to 100 tons were contemplated; and even for this class the bridge was wretchedly constructed. Hence, however much the accidents constantly occurring may be deplored, it is nothing surprising that vessels four time the burden of those originally contemplated should find difficulty in passing through a bridge erected under such different circumstances. Should the late accident lead to re-construction upon an improved principle, or, to its removal altogether as suggested by several parties interested in drainage and navigation.”

The Stamford Mercury, 24th July, 1846.

*deodand: a thing forfeited to God, specifically, an object or instrument that becomes forfeited because it has caused a person’s death.

A charming story of marriage in later life, though a mishap with the train carriage nearly caused problems.

Elopement.

“A locality not more than 100 miles from Tattershall Bridge was thrown into great excitement on Thursday the 14th inst. by the elopement of two ‘widowed lovers,’ the vigourous groom being a man in comfortable circumstances and ‘well stricken in years,’ having been the turn of seventy-five summers, fifty of which have been spent with a kind-hearted wife who was recently taken from him, leaving him possessed of 6 children and 12 grandchildren; the buxom bride being about what Byron terms ‘an uncertain age, which means an age most certain,’ and blessed with five younglings. By arrangement the lady left home on foot, and the gentleman by train, the point of meeting being Kirkstead stated. Arrived at this point he was by no means Slack in stepping our of the carriage in search of the ‘vidder,’ who had reached the spot long Eyre the train was in sight. By some unfortunate circumstances or another, however, the train moved off before the ‘happy pair’ got into the carriage. But determined not to be foiled they passed on to Lincoln as luggage by the next train that ran. On reaching the old city the ‘twain became on flesh,’ and spent the rest of the day in a manner that can be expressed by no term so fully as by the word ‘jolly.’ Next day the bridegroom posted home again but did not take his bride with him, prudence no doubt directing him to proceed first to prepare the way for her to follow by – and – bye.”

The Stamford Mercury, 22nd June, 1860.

Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and Bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, known as The Oxford Martyrs, were tried in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin and imprisoned in the Bocardo prison at the North Gate. Bishops Latimer and Ridley were burned at the stake on 16th October 1555 for denying the Roman Catholic dogma of Transubstantiation. Cranmer was burnt five months later on 21st March 1556.

A small granite area in the centre of the road outside the front of Balliol College marks the stake. The Victorian Martyr ‘s Memorial nearby, commemorates these events.

Cheap Dinner for Three Bishops.

“In a book kept by the Bailiffs of Oxford, at the time Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley were in custody there, the following entry occurs of the bill of fare for these highly distinguished prelates (prisoners) on the 1st October, 1554: – ‘Bread and ale 2d., oysters 1d.. butter 2d., eggs 2d., lyng* 8d., a piece of fresh salmon 10d., wine 3d., cheese and pears 2d.:’ the whole three dinners 2s 6d. What would some of our modern Right Rev. Fathers in God say to such fare?”

The Stamford Mercury, 19th March, 1847.

*Presumably and old spelling of ling, the fish.

Currently, in the Army, individuals typically sign up for a minimum of four years, but can extend their contract or leave after that period with proper notice. 

“The Bill for limiting the time of service in the Army, and for amending the Acts for rendering effective the services of the Chelsea and Greenwich Out-pensioners, provides that no person shall be enlisted as a soldier for a longer term than ten years in the infantry, or twelve in the cavalry, artillery, or other ordnance corps, to be reckoned from the day on which the recruit shall have been attested, if he shall have stated himself to be then of the age of eighteen years, or if not, then from the day on which he will complete the age of eighteen years. That any soldier, after completing his term of service, may be re-engaged for any term not exceeding eleven years in the infantry and twelve years in the cavalry and artillery. Provided that both the first and second terms of service may be prolonged for such further, not exceeding on year in time of peace or two in time of war, as shall be directed by the commanding officer on any foreign station; and that any soldier who shall give notice to his commanding officer, after completing his second term of limited service, that he is desirous of continuing in her Majesty’s service, may be continued as a soldier until three calendar months after he shall have given notice of his wish to be discharged.”

The Stamford Mercury, 19th March, 1847.

Disputes on all sides caused the labourers working on the Syston to Peterboro’ railway to strike, because they had not received their wages and they could not purchase beer and necessities.

“The town of Stamford has been in some peril this week, from the misconduct of persons connected with the works on the railway in a grade which might be expected to exempt society from terror on their account. Owing to a disagreement between Mr. Worswick, the contractor for executing a great portion of the railway from Syston to Peterboro’, and Mr. Chester, his sub-contractor, the labourers on the line eastward of Stamford were not paid their wages on Saturday evening last, and as some delay in this respect had been experienced on a former occasion, the men on Monday became clamorous, refused to continue their work, and assembled in great numbers at Stamford. It seemed that early on that morning Mr. Chester, and a Mr. Roberts (who represented Mr. Worswick), were to have met on the line for the purpose of measuring the work which had been completed, and that Mr. Chester was not punctual to his appointment; in consequence of which, the admeasurement* was not completed; and Mr. Roberts, on meeting Mr. Chester at the George Inn at ten o’clock, refused to pay so large a sum as 400l.. which Mr. C. claimed as being due to him. Mr. Chester declined to receive a less sum, declaring that the whole was due to the labourers, and that without it he could not meet their demands. The dispute coming to the knowledge of the men, they became vociferous in the streets, and Mr. Roberts was in danger of being very roughly handled by them. On his going over the bridge, he was followed by a party whose movements indicated an intention of throwing him over the parapet into the river: he, however, succeeded in getting clear of them, and hastily made to the George inn, to which he was followed by the ‘navvies,’ and was loudly threatened by them. In order to save him from being pulled to pieces, the servants in the booking-office in the inn-yard thrust him into an inner room, the door of which the assailants speedily broke open; but fortunately it was practicable to get him upstairs before they entered; and after he had run through a whole suite of rooms, and fastened the door of each as he quitted, he was at last concealed in a cockloft known only to a few of the servants, and was thus lost to he pursuers. After a considerable time, he was supplied with a dress as a disguise, and was got out of the inn in a fly and driven to Ketton. During all this the navvies were on the watch, and it was feared that some outrage would be committed in the town in the course of the night, as many of the men declared that they had had nothing to eat for two days. Happily the temperate and excelled conduct of the policemen in this emergency preserved the peace; and on Tuesday morning the magistrates assembled at the Town-hall to investigate the case, and to take steps to protect the town from any outbreak of violence on the part of the ill-used labourers. Three of them were admitted to the Magistrates’ room; and with good temper and plainness they related the hardship of their case. There was no dispute whatever between them and their employer (Mr. Chester) about the amount of their wages: to each of 300 or 400 men sums were due, the want of which really prevented their obtaining any food for themselves or their families, as the tradespeople of Stamford and the villages refused to give them credit. One of the men candidly observed that he feared Mr. Chester had deceived himself as to the amount that would be due to him on admeasurement of the work done on the line; but that was no fault of the labourers, whose claim for wages was not in any case disputed, and who had toiled in intense heat which aggravated their privations. Mr. Chester, it was added, could supply the men with beer, which he himself sold to them, and which he set-off against their wages when the settlement took place, but he would supply them with nothing else, and now they could not obtain any money from him to purchase bread or other necessities. Mr. Chester was next introduced to the hall, and admitted the truth of all that the labourers had stated, but he declared that the fault of their not being paid did not rest with him, but with the agent of Mr. Worswick, who had refused to pay him a sum which would be equal to settling with the men. – It was pointed out to him that the peace of the town was greatly endangered by the presence of some hundreds of hungry and exasperated labourers, assembled from all parts of the county; and it was asked what he proposed to do to correct this state of affairs. Mr. Chester replied simply that he ‘could do nothing without money;’ and after a conversation of some length, there seeming to be no other way of keeping quiet the multitudes who were assembles to receive the support to which they were entitles, one of the Magistrates undertook to advance 200l. for Mr. Chester’s instant use, provided he would pay that sum amongst the men in proportion to their respective claims and necessities, and provided the men would immediately return to their work; the Magistrates at large undertaking to procure a settlement of the remainder of their claims, by sending for Mr. Worswick, and also immediately acquainting the Directors of the Railway, at Derby, with the state of affairs at Stamford. This was agreed to; the money was advanced; the men received 10s.each, and the great body of them returned to work; and Mitchell the policeman was dispatched to Derby with a representation of all the circumstances. – On Wednesday morning, Mr. Worswick appeared, and a long conference took place between him and the magistrates. At first he seemed inclined to put the case as one simply of a money transaction in which his agent wanted to extort a larger sum that he was entitled to ; but being strongly remonstrated with for having employed an agent without taking any security whatever for the faithful discharge of his duties, and informed that, if any outrage now arose from the continued privations of the labourers, the consequences would rest upon his own head, he consented to pay all the wages that were due to them men, and in future to see that they were regularly paid for their wok at short intervals. He also repaid the 200l. which had been advanced to Chester, and promised to prevent the continuance of the abominable truck system in beer and necessaries on the lines with which he is connected. – Since this good understanding was established, all had proceeded with order and pleasantness.

The policeman returned from Derby on Wednesday night, with a letter from Mr. Bell, the secretary of the Railway Company at the station there, expressing great concern for what had occurred at Stamford, and stating that the Chairman and other acting officers of the Midland Lines should be instantly informed of all the particulars, but saying that he himself could give no directions as to what should be done. Fortunately the happy turn which affairs have made this unimportant with reference to the late alarm at Stamford; but for future something should be clearly ascertained as to the means which would be at command in cast of tumult from such a cause as existed here on Monday and Tuesday. It is remarkable that on Saturday last the Magistrates, whilst sitting at the Town-hall, received a friendly visit from the Rev. D. F. Perkins, Rector of Swayfield, in the county, with the view of his making a representation as to a great disturbance in the streets which he had heard in the course of the previous Saturday night, whilst her was sleeping in the town, and which he understood proceeded from the conduct of some railway labourers assembled near St. Michael’s station-house. It had prevented his rest, and must have disturbed the whole neighbourhood for more than an hour. Mr. Perkins stated that he holds also a living in Warwickshire, near Coventry, and is a Magistrate for that county: in which latter capacity he had been called in to act with others in the case of disturbances by ‘navvies,’ and had made an application to the directors of the Railway Company, which had been received with the utmost respect and promptitude; and the Directors had signified that they were willing to incur any charge in supporting the rural constabulary of the district, and requested the Magistrates would select from the Company’s establishment such a number of men as they might think fit to aid the constables and whom the Directors would clothe with the county livery and place under the orders of the Magistrates, The Magistrates had, in consequence, made a selection of six men for the present from the company’s force, and they were acting in consonance with the purpose expressed.

The Stamford Mercury, 19th June, 1846.

• determination and apportionment of shares

Perhaps this could be the answer to the current proposal to close the town bridge between St. Mary’s street and St. Martin’s for seven weeks this summer!?

“In the course of next week, the main thoroughfare between St, Martin’s and Stamford will be cut off, and preparations for the removal of the present dangerous structure called the town bridge will be commenced. A substantial roadway across the meadows from the Sheep-square to the back of St. Martin’s has been completed: it is raised nearly three feet above the level of the meadows, and the sides are guarded by a strong fencing. By this divergence of the thoroughfare from Northamptonshire into the town, the tradesmen of St. Martin’s and St. Mary’s hill apprehend a great falling off in their business; and it has been suggested that what they may lose will only be a foretaste of what the entire borough will suffer, in the event of the deviation to Stamford of the Great Northern Railway being permanently lost.”

The Stamford Mercury, 2nd July, 1847.